Bigger Picture Moments: She Was

At first, she was all feet and hands pounding against my mother's rounding stomach, a baby with two names -- one for a boy and one for a girl.

Then she was this long, lanky little thing that emerged into the world on a cold February night while I sulked on my grandparents' stairs, having been left at home with my grandpa while my mom and grandma went to the hospital for her delivery.

Soon she was all chubby cheeks and smiles and so cute to lug around on my 6-year-old hip, cooing and batting dark lashes over bright blue eyes.

And before long she became the tag-along I babysat and dragged along with me places at either her or my mother's persistence.

Before I knew it, though, she grew older and realized that cool had a definition other than her older sister, and I sank into college life while she began finding herself

and the sister that I knew was no longer the sister that I had known -- long and lanky, chubby cheeked and always talking.

She was this person, alive and real and not just mine or ours but someone else's, and I couldn't put it all together until

she landed on our doorstep, 20 and unsure of where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do, but here, nonetheless, calling a big bedroom and the place beneath our roof home.

And in a huge deliverance of grace

I found out who she was.

In that sweet time-gift of just 11 months together living as a adults in the same space

I finally realized that she wasn't just my sister

but more so a dreamer

a cheerleader

a born-nurturer, comforter

a make-you-laugh-'til-you-pee-your-pants everyday comedian

a daughter of the King

who is more than what I ever acknowledged growing up.

And in that mercy gift of time spent together sharing the same four walls and roof

He delivered her into a wife and mother

and us from

only blood-bonds

sharers of womb and mother

and same home-spaces

into the kind of friends

who intertwine their lives purposefully

vine by beautiful vine.

*****

Starting next Tuesday, I am SO excited to have the honor of being able to introduce you to my sister and friend, Jill!

While I'm on a little hiatus from blogging, Jill's going to be telling stories -- like how she was a rock-star during the home-birth delivery of her daughter and maybe also about how our mother gave us mullet hair cuts when we were younger along with an apology letter she penned her sweet baby E regarding the former hair debacle and genetics.

She'll probably also try to tell you about the time I was pulling her in a wagon and went around a corner too fast and tipped the wagon thus breaking her finger. And she'll probably tell you I was being a little snot when I did that, and probably, you'll believe her because she's the charming, younger sister ... and if you do, we can still be friends. Because I don't blame you; she *is* charming.

She'll be hosting Bigger Picture Moments here next week, so be sure to show her some love?

This week, we're sharing life at Corinne's! Join us?